The Woman Out of Time
by Conduitassbutts
Summary: War. War never changes, as Skyler O'Sullivan soon finds out after the big kaboom hits her idyllic life in Sanctuary, and her life gets turns upside down.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Apple-Pie Life

Being married to a man that served in the military was a surprise for Skyler. If you'd told her as a little girl that she'd marry a fine young man that served his country on the front lines, she gasp and say "No way! He'll get blown up!, I want my future husband alive." But she did.

At age sixteen, she met Nate O'Sullivan in high school, and the two fell in love. They married in a quaint ceremony, surrounded by friends and family - nothing too fancy.

As she rolled over in her cozy bed, Skyler let out a tiny laugh at the thought of her younger self. She'd never wanted a casual, Apple-Pie Lifestyle as a kid. Now, she wouldn't have it any other way. She had Nate, their newborn baby Shaun, and their Mister Handy robot Codsworth. Their small little family.

Skyler got dressed into a blue button up blouse, tucking it into a white pair of pants. Damn it where is Nate? she wondered. He has his speech today.

Walking out of the bedroom in a pair of short heels, she padded down the hallway of their home, calling out Nate's name. As she went further down the hall, she could hear his voice coming from the bathroom. Opening the sliding door as quietly as she could, she could see her husband standing in front of the mirror, muttering lines from the speech he'd prepared.

"War... War never changes," Nate mumbled, letting out a sigh as he wiped off the post-shower fog from the mirror.

Skyler walked up to Nate, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Feeling nervous, honey?" she asked.

Nate let out a breathless chuckle. "Just a tad."

Skyler chuckled as well, letting go of her husband and making her way to his side. He looked away from the mirror and met her green aqua eyes with his blue hued ones.

She could never get over just how handsome he was. Dark hair, sun kissed muscular skin with hazel blue eyes to boot. He was a looker. When he came home from the military, Nate had worried what she'd think of the scars that stretched across his nose, stretching half-way across his left cheek. The second a cut on his eyebrow. She'd told him he looked badass and he laughed away all his anxieties. That was the thing about Nate and Skyler; they loved each other despite the flaws. He loved her even though she had a gap between her front teeth and a ridiculous laugh. She loved him despite his hilarious addiction to Sugar Bombs and his habit of overthinking.

"You're gonna be great, Nate," she comforted him with a smile. "The Veteran's Hall won't know what hit 'em - now can I use the mirror please?"

Nate nodded, grinning and ducking his head in embarrassment as he backed away from the mirror. "I'm gonna go grab a coffee," he informed her, kissing her on the cheek before he left the bathroom.

Smiling to herself, Skyler gazed at her reflection.

No matter how many times she and Nate made trips to the beach, she could never get a tan; "His sexy pale lady," he'd call her. The light dusting of freckles across her face were more prominent when she was a child. Taking the hair tie off her wrist, Skyler worked on putting her short auburn hair into a small bun at the back of her head. No matter how hard she tried she could never do one of those buns that sit on the top of a woman's head. Once that was done, she did her regular makeup routine - berry purple lipstick, some eyeliner that wasn't too flashy, and some dark eyeshadow.

"Okay, I'm all set," she mumbled to herself. "Now, coffee or I'm not going to function for the rest of the day."

Skyler made her way out the bathroom and into the kitchen. Front and center, taking care of the coffee was of course, Codsworth. "Ahh, good morning Mum!" he greeted her in his usual posh, perky British manner. "Care for some coffee? I've already made Master Nate some."

"Some coffee would be great, thanks Codsworth."

Codsworth got to work on the coffee. With a few movements of his robotic arms and some flailing about with a coffee pot, it was finished and ready to go. Whirling back around, he set the coffee on the counter. "Here you go Mum, and do be careful not to burn your tongue - it's 173.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Brewed to perfection!"

Skyler took the mug by the handle and took a wary sip. The coffee was indeed hot, but like Codsworth said, "brewed to perfection." It made her still sleepy form very happy. "Thank you Codsworth! It's great."

Codsworth waved a robotic arm in a dismissive manner. "Ahh, you're most welcome!" A few moments later Shaun started to cry. "Sounds like someone made a stinky! You two relax - I've got everything under control!" And with that, he floated up the hallway and into their baby's room.

"You know, at first I wasn't so sure how Codsworth would be with Shaun," Nate admitted from behind the newspaper he was reading. "But's he's doing really great with him."

"I told you he would be," Skyler replied, chuckling quietly at a Grognak comic Nate left on the counter. "Codsworth is a sweetie."

Nate opened his mouth to reply when suddenly the doorbell rang. He rolled his eyes. "It's probably that guy again," he grumbled.

"I'll shoo him away," Skyler teased.

She went and answered the door. A very bright, chirpy man in a light brown trench coat with a matching fedora stood at the doorstep with a big smile on his face that screamed Customer Service.

"Why hello there Ma'am!" he greeted her in an equally chirpy voice. "My, I've been trying to get hold of you for the past three days!"

Skyler grinned an awkward toothy smile at him. "I'm sorry Sir, I've just been terribly busy with uh, work. And my baby. Lot's of sleepless nights."

Nate choked back a laugh from the sofa. Skyler shot him a look, raising her eyebrows as if to say "Don't you dare, smart ass". He grinned at her playfully in response.

"Ah, I see," said the chirpy man. "Well, I am a representative from Vault-Tec, and I'm here to tell you that the world has gone to heck in a hand-basket! And thanks to your family service in the military, you have gotten a spot in our local Vault!" He waved a hand in a dramatic manner. "Vault 111."

"Will there be enough room?" She queried, gesturing to her husband.

"Oh of course! You and your family will have plenty of room - now of course, the robot cannot enter, but you guys are totally fine." He pulled a pen out of the front pocket of his coat and clicked it. "So, shall we get some details filled out? Then we're all prepared for - ahem - the Big Kaboom."

Skyler nodded. "Okay, let's get this over with."

It took a minute to fill out the registration form. Gosh this guy's definitely a character, Skyler thought to herself. Once the signing was over, the Vault-Tec Rep took a step back.

"Excellent! I'll run this over to the Vault now. Your family is now officially, 'Prepared for the future!'" And with that he took off.

"Uh... thank you?" she called out, confused. Shaking her head, she closed the door.

"Hey, it's peace of mind Sweetheart," Nate said comfortingly.

Skyler smiled at him, reaching to stroke his cheek. "Anything for my boys."

Shaun's crying had started up again. Codsworth came floating from down the hallway. "Miss Skyler, Shaun has been changed but he won't stop crying. I believe some of that 'maternal affection' would be recommended."

Skyler chuckled and headed up the hallway into Shaun's room. In the blue crib that was gifted by Nate's parents was the crying little bundle of joy, waving his arms about, tiny fists clenched. Bending over the bar of the crib, she gently stroked her son's head. "It's okay Sweetie," she crooned in a soft voice, "Mommy's here."

"Is my boy behaving for his mother?" Nate's voice came from behind her. He wrapped his arms around Skyler's waist as she had done earlier. "I fixed the mobile above his crib, give it a spin; he loves it."

So Skyler gave it a spin. Tinkling nursery rhyme music came from it, settling the boy down. His cries became faint whimpers.

"There we go, on his best behaviour just like his dad - well, most of the time, at least," Nate added with a chuckle.

Skyler turned around, still in Nate's arms. The pair gazed at each other lovingly, and then kissed. It always gave Skyler a strange sensation; she felt her heart flutter but she also felt calm, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Nate's hands pulled her closer to him, their bodies pressed together, Skyler's hands reaching up to wrap themselves around his neck. After a couple minutes they pulled away, both of them grinning.

"You know," Nate began, his voice husky. "I was thinking we could go to the park later today. The weather's nice."

Skyler smirk and pressed another kiss onto Nate's lips. "The park? With you? Right, because I want to get pregnant again."

They both giggled and kissed each other again, this time more gentle.

"Sir? Mum?"

"Codsworth? What's wrong?" Nate asked, the lovebirds pulling away.

"There's something you both need to see."

"We... we have confirmed reports. Yes. Confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania... My God."

A short silence followed after the television went dead. Skyler, who looked at Nate holding Shaun, took a shaky breath, "We need to get to the Vault, now!"

"I've got Shaun, let's go!"

Nate went out the door first. Skyler's eyes darted around the room, her eyes landing on a Polaroid photo. It was of her, Nate and Shaun. Taking it and hastily putting it in her pocket, she took one last glance at Codsworth. "Take care Codsworth," she said tearfully.

"You too, Miss Skyler," Codsworth replied, sounding equally emotional.

Skyler bolted out the door, sprinting after her husband and son. When she caught up with them, they were standing behind the Vault-Tec Rep, who was arguing with a soldier.

"I AM Vault-Tec! I'm going in!"

A soldier in Power Armour behind the first soldier revved up his minigun, making everyone scream. Skyler pushed herself between the Vault-Tec Rep and the soldiers. We're wasting time! Either we stand around arguing or we're all dead. "We need to get in, we're on the list!"

"Name?" the soldier asked.

"O'Sullivan," Skyler replied quickly.

The solider checked the clipboard. "Alright, you three go through. Hurry."

Skyler and Nate wasted no time, rushing past the soldiers and people and sprinting up the hill to the vault. They stood on the platform, surrounded by a few of their neighbours.

"Is Shaun okay?" Skyler asked, staggering to her husband and clutching onto him.

"He's fine," Nate replied breathlessly. "We're gonna be okay. I love you."

"I love -" Skyler was cut of by a loud boom.

Up ahead, was a large, mushroom cloud from the bomb. It billowed up toward the sky.

"Send them down!"

"Yes Sir!"

The breeze picked up and the mushroom cloud dissolved. The winds became faster, and Skyler swore she could see the deadly nuclear shock wave coming. The platform started going down... down... the shock wave coming closer and closer. People were screaming. Nate wrapped an arm around Skyler and they both knelt down, clinging to each other and Shaun. Skyler closed her eyes as she felt the world shake, as everything she'd ever known above her was wiped out by the bomb.

* * *

 **I would just like to say thank you to random guest Bob that commented and pointed out to me how much of an absolute fuckery the file I uploaded was.**

 **So hopefully now that people can read this, you'll maybe like it!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Frozen in Time

First there was darkness. The sound of machinery clanking together as the platform slowed to a stop. Then, a blinding white light, the silhouettes of two men in blue jumpsuits entering Skyler's field of view.

Neighbours were murmuring to each other, voices a mix of uncertainty and shock. Skyler eased up her grip on Nate, but still held onto his arm.

"Are you okay? Is Shaun okay?" she fussed, checking over her husband and son.

"It's okay Hon," Nate assured her breathlessly, quickly averting his gaze to Shaun as if to see if he truly was okay. "Yeah, we're okay... we made it."

One of the men in blue started ordering the survivors. "Alright folks! Everyone make their way off the elevator in and proceed up the stairs in an orderly fashion."

One person started shakily making their way to the stairs. The second man in blue began to speak. "No need to worry people! I am the Overseer, and I can assure you all that you're all perfectly safe here. Now let's get everyone situated into their new home! Vault 111; a better future, underground!"

"My God..." an old man blubbered shakily. Skyler recognised him as Mr Able, a retired police officer. "If-if we had leave a minute later we'd all be-"

"Now now, there's no need to get caught up thinking about that. You're safe now," said the Overseer. "Now just head up these stairs, then go right through the door."

Skyler staggered forward, Nate following close behind. The place looked so far ahead in technology, Skyler noted to herself. Everything looked top of the line, from the machinery to the jumpsuits. As they got to the ramp, she could see more high-end tech.

A robotic female voice sounded through the Vault through the speakers. "Vault-Tec is here for you. All new residents please proceed in an orderly fashion. Welcome home."

People walked through a weird scanning gate. _Probably to detect any radiation_ , Skyler thought. As she walked through the radiation scanner another neighbour was getting a blue jumpsuit from one of the Vault-Tec people. Now closer up, she could see that in yellow was the number "111" on the back of the jumpsuit. Skyler took both hers and Nate's as he was holding Shaun. The woman who handed them the suits told them to head down the hall with the doctor.

"Okay you three, follow me," the doctor said with a wave of his hand.

The O'Sullivans followed the doctor down the hallway, passing couples and people o their own as they went.

Nate glanced around looking cautious. He leaned in close and spoke low enough that only Skyler could hear what he was saying. "I have a bad feeling about this, Babe."

Skyler kept her eyes ahead. "How so?" she replied quietly. "We're safe from the nukes now, Nate."

"Yeah, but I can't shake this feeling like there's more to this place than meets the eye."

Meanwhile the doctor was rambling. "Oh you're gonna love this place! It's one of our most advanced facilities - not that the other Vaults aren't as great mind you."

Nate cleared his throat and spoke in a louder voice, sounding more confident. But Skyler knew he was covering his emotions. "So Doc, how long will we be down here for?"

"Oh, we'll be going over all of that in orientation," the doctor said offhandedly. "We just ave to go over a few medical items first."

They entered a room at the end of the hall. The room was filled with these strange cases, like pods. Skyler could feel Nate stiffen beside her as he looked at them. Even she felt unnerved now.

"Just puts your Vault suits on and step in here please," the doctor told them.

After they put the suits on, just as Skyler was about to step inside the pod, Shaun started to cry.

"Shh, it's okay baby," Nate cooed. "Mommy is right here, see?"

Skyler stepped over and gave her son a kiss on the cheek. "I'm not going anywhere Shaun. I'm not leaving you." As she straightened up she stared into Nate's eyes fiercely. "I'm not leaving either of you."

"We're in this together, yeah?"

"Yeah," Skyler repeated, "together."

Skyler and shared a kiss, and then stepped into their pods.

The case to Skyler pod clamped shut. She didn't really listen to what the doctor was saying; she just kept her eyes on Nate and Shaun. Her heart was racing. Nate's words from earlier were in her mind.

The robotic voice from before returned. "Residents secured."

Skyler glanced down into a pocket in the jumpsuit; the family photo was neatly tucked away. Relief flooded through her. She had carefully snuck it into her pocket while no one was looking.

"Occupant vitals; normal."

From across the room, Nate mouthed an "I love you" to Skyler, which she returned.

"Procedure complete. In 5..."

The window had started to fog up, and ice slowly crept it's way across the window. _Ice?_ Skyler wondered, a feeling of dread washing over her. _Why is there ice?_

"4...3..."

Skyler breathing slowed, and she felt tired. _Why is there ice?_ she thought once again. What was Vault-Tec doing?

"2...1..."

 _Nate was right._

* * *

"Manual override initiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended."

Skyler's eyes slowly opened. The ice on the window had begun to fade away. _How... long was I asleep?_

Across the room she could see Nate, frozen, along with Shaun.

 _Nate...Shaun...my baby._

"This is the one. Here."

Two people appeared. One, a woman in some kind of hazmat suit. The other a bald man, wearing some strange kind of outfit with a metal brace on his left am.

"Open it," the man ordered.

The woman got to work, pressing buttons on the lever to Nate's pod. The case opened, lifting up. Not moments later Nate started coughing, and Shaun started to cry.

"What... what happened? Is my boy okay?" he wheezed.

"Almost," the man replied, "everything is gonna be fine."

The woman in the hazmat then reached out and tried to grab Shaun. "Come here."

"No, I've got him," Nate protested, keeping his hold on his son.

Skyler's heart began to speed up. She had to get out. She tried opening her mouth, but no sound came out. Her lips didn't move. They couldn't.

The bald man then pulled out a gun, aiming it at Nate. _Oh God, no. Please no..._

"Let the boy go. I'm only telling you once."

Nate fought against the woman trying to steal Shaun. "I'm not giving you Shaun!"

It all happened so fast. The sound of gunfire. Nate slumping back into the pod, lifeless. Shaun's loud cries as the woman took him from his father's arms. Skyler's soundless screams.

The man swore. "Goddammit. Get him out of here. Let's go..." He then turned around to face her. Skyler glared at him with over-whelming hatred. She could see the scar that stretched down is face, across his eye. "At least we still have the backup." And with that, he turned and walked away with a smirk.

"Cryogenic sequence reinitialized."

 _I'm gonna find you, asshole,_ was Skyler's last thought before the world went cold and dark once more. No way in Hell was she letting anyone get away with this.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Escape Vault 111

Her pod had opened, and Skyler came tumbling out of it. She gasped for air, her whole body shaking from the cold. Her mind slowly began to recall the events from earlier; the mysterious people, Shaun being taken, her husband... dead.

 _Nate._

Standing up wobbly, Skyler looked up to see her husband still frozen in the pod. _There has to be a release somewhere,_ she thought desperately. She might've have said it out loud as well. Her eyes darted everywhere in a crazed manner, not quite focusing on anything. Finally her eyes landed on a control panel with a lever. Skyler all but lunged at the lever, jerking it up. "Come on, come on, oh God..."

Nate's pod opened. Skyler let out a loud sob as she looked at him.

The bullet hole in his head was still there, but the ice had covered up the blood. Nate's eyes were closed, a slight frown etched upon his frozen face.

Skyler couldn't control her crying. She reached out and stroked his icy cold cheek. "I'm so sorry Nate," she whimpered, her voice breaking. Her hand wandered own to his, the tips of her fingers tugging off his wedding ring. If this was the only thing she had left of him then she wasn't gonna leave it behind. Skyler's face hardened as she tried to control herself. "I'm gonna find who did this," she vowed, "and I'll get our boy back. I promise."

She stumbled away from Nate's pod, not being able to bear seeing him in like that anymore. _Why would Vault-Tec do this?_ she wondered, looking at the other pods. Everyone was frozen, and she concluded that they were dead. Making her way to the door, Skyler began to cough as she staggered down the hall to the exit. However when she got to the door, it didn't budge. A warning message blared out over the speakers; the emergency exit was malfunctioning. Skyler screamed and kicked at the door.

So she staggered down some stairs and down another hallway. Suddenly her vision began to blur and she swayed to the side, crashing into a wall. "Okay Sky, get a hold of yourself," she told herself. Breathing slowly through her nose and out her mouth, the dizziness faded slightly, and she continued down the halls of the Vault.

As she passed through one hallway, there was a window... and Skyler let out a loud shriek as a ginormous cockroach flew away from the glass. "Giant roaches... there's giant... roaches... What the hell?"

She entered the next room and what would be in there? Another large roach, the size of a small dog. Skyler briefly thought it was the size of a beagle. It's antennae twitched, and the giant roach lunged at her. Skyler squealed and dodged out the way in time. I need something to kill this thing with! Her eyes landed on a security baton. She vaulted towards it, grabbed the baton and readied herself. Just as the roach was about to lunge again, she struck it with the baton, killing it.

Skyler took a couple breaths before soldiering on. She rummaged around the room, finding a few neat items that would surely come in handy later. Then she began her journey out of the Vault. She killed a few more roaches and then entered another room; this one had a skeleton with a lab coat on the floor. "Am I really the only person left here?"

She had a look through the terminal sitting on the desk. By the looks of things, supplies were running low, and the surviving people had began a mutiny and wanted out the Vault.

She found some more goodies. Some Stimpaks, a very fancy gun locked away in a case that she'll have to come back for later, and a 10mm pistol. She didn't have much experience with guns. Nate had taken her to a shooting range once for a date so she knew how to handle a gun, but using it on a person...

Skyler shook her head, scanning through the terminal to find something to unlock the exit. After finding what she was looking for, she ventured down more hallways. One was infested with the giant roaches. Firing the gun was very exhilarating, Skyler noted. The noise, the recoil, it gave her a bit of an adrenaline rush.

After wandering down one more hallway she entered the final room. She remembered it from when she and her family entered the Vault for the first time. There were staff, it was clean and everything was functioning well. Now, it was decayed, with what looked like the Overseer's skeleton by the door's control panel. On the skeleton's wrist was a Pip-Boy. "Does this thing still work...?" she asked herself, picking it up and attaching it to her wrist. She wiped the screen as it began to power up. The little Vault Boy logo popped up; Skyler let out a sigh of relief that it still worked.

Skyler then turned her attention to Vault 111's door control panel. There appeared to be a type of plug on the panel that matched a cord on her Pip-Boy. Unwinding the cord, she plugged it it in. It synced to the control panel and she pressed the large button.

"Vault door cycling sequence initiated. Please stand back."

The door's mechanics slowly started to crank up. Lights lit up the small room. Skyler made her way to the gates of the ramp. The door rolled open, blinding white light hurting her eyes momentarily. She clambered onto the ramp, not bothering to wait and making her way across it and down the stairs. She waited for the platform, bouncing up and down anxiously as she did. _I have to get home,_ she decided, _I have to see if there's anything left._

The platform arrived, the mesh barring her way slowly lifting up. Skyler took a deep breath, looking back for a moment. She stretched for a second, her arms falling to her sides with a slap. All of a sudden she felt something brush her foot. Looking down, she felt a little bit of happiness as she picked up the photo that fell out her pocket. It was still in perfect condition. Shoving it back in, she stepped onto the platform, anxious of what awaited her on the surface as it began it's ascend.

"Enjoy your return to the surface. And thank you for choosing Vault-Tec!"


End file.
